Career advice for savvy 21st-century nurses from holistic career coach Keith Carlson

Friday, October 03, 2014

Book Review: "Nursing From Within" by Elizabeth Scala

Spiritual Practice Nurse Elizabeth Scala is a nurse, Reiki Master, healer, certified coach, facilitator, teacher, author and speaker. Her latest book, "Nursing From Within: A Fresh Alternative to Putting Out Fires and Self-Care Workarounds", is her own prescription for reinvigorating your nursing practice with heart, self-love, balance and magic.

Each chapter of "Nursing From Within" begins with a personal reflection by Elizabeth, and her vulnerability sets the stage as she demonstrates her own journey and the ways in which she has integrated these teachings into her own personal and professional lives. With exhortations to bring more fun, art, joy, heart, love, faith, healing and presence into our work as nurses, Ms. Scala uses real-life examples and stories to clearly illustrate her point. The author uses her latest book as a soapbox for her vision of nursing as a profession that not only heals through science, but also heals through the often forgotten art of nursing. Briefly describing the concepts of Newtonian scientific reductionism as compared to quantum physics, Ms. Scala hopes that readers will accept the basic concepts of quantum science as a given, seeing how the energy within all life can be harnessed for the good of all---including the nurse him- or herself. She contends that the science of nursing (quite Newtonian and reductionist in essence) has superseded and overshadowed the lost art of nursing, and it is our duty and responsibility to bring things back into alignment once again. Elizabeth shares:

We’ve got some age-old issues that continue to resurface and bubble up for us both as a group and as individuals. We keep trying to ‘fix’ our problems with the same minds that created them. It is now time for a fresh perspective of solutions that will work because these new answers will create empowered nurses who are change agents, happy and healthy with themselves, their lives and each other.

Using quantum physics, energy principles and universal law we know that thoughts influence emotions which in turn, influence actions and behaviors. How can you behave, act and make choices in a new way when you are thinking the same old thing?It’s time to leave the problem-solution based model aside and heal the root cause: thethought.

The old way is putting a band-aid on every little problem as it arises. The way it’s "always been done" is to fix the problem with a solution, but even the best intended solutions create with them unintended side effects. The best way to heal is to get at the root cause, the thought that created them.

Change your thoughts and change your life.

And when it comes to having fun and experiencing passion at work, the author is unambiguous in her own earnest passion:

The nurse within you is alive and well. You just have to tap into him/her, allow her/him to be. This is where the passion for practice comes into play. If you’ve found yourself empty, lacking enthusiasm, for the work that you do it may be time to take a good, hard look at your role. "Work" doesn’t have to feel like "work". There are people going to work on a daily basis, feeling as if it is play. What a vision, right!?!

Here’s another that might blow your mind: would you do your job if you weren’t even getting paid for it? That’s the space we want to get to with respect to our nursing careers. We’re gifted with such a profound opportunity on a daily basis. We help people heal. We care for those in need. We advocate for the powerless. We give a voice to the weak. We’re helpers, teachers, care-givers and friends.

Can you bring more play into your role? Can you have fun with your career? What will it take for you to enjoy your job again?

Nursing from within is about finding your passions, your purpose and working with integrity on a daily basis. Nursing from within is about enjoying your job so it doesn’t have to feel like work anymore.

Elizabeth Scala is on a mission, and her mission is one of healing, wellness, fun, play, and optimal health.

Knowing the author as I do, I must admit that I'm biased, and I see Elizabeth as a woman and nurse who walks her talk, practicing deep introspection and self-care as tools for self-actualization and deepened levels of self-awareness.

Elizabeth brings these concepts to her writing, nursing, teaching and healing, and if she reaches one nurse who decides to deepen a commitment to his or her own healing, I'm sure she would be thrilled. But I must say, Elizabeth has reached countless nurses---and continues to do so on a daily basis---and this book is one more feather in the (nursing) cap of a woman who truly embodies the art of nursing from within. ----------

Nursing
from Within™ is an innovative and uplifting guide for nurses at all
levels of the profession. Learn how to shift your inner perspective so
you can enjoy the work of helping others, regardless of how stressful or
challenging the environment you are working in may be. Are you ready to
rediscover the joy and passion of nursing? ‘Nursing from Within: A Fresh Alternative to Putting Out Fires and Self-Care Workarounds’ is available now. Get your copy today by visiting Elizabeth Scala’s site, or purchase directly from Amazon.